Bilal Hussein
Bilal Hussein is an Associated Press photojournalist based in Fallujah, Iraq who had been detained by U.S. forces, suspected of aiding insurgents in Iraq. He was handed over to face charges in the Iraqi Central Court, reportedly over the circumstances of his photos supplied by the U.S. military. American and Iraqi governments were criticized for violating the Geneva Conventions, and for detaining Hussein without any evidence. He was finally released without charge in 2008. One of his photographs was part of a package of 20 Associated Press photographs that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography. His was an image of four insurgents in Fallujah firing a mortar and small arms during the U.S.-led offensive in the city in November 2004. On September 17, 2006, it was reported that Hussein has been imprisoned by the United States military since April 2006 without publicly known charges or hearings; his captors citing "imperative reasons of security" under United Nations resolutions. Hussein was taken into U.S. custody on April 12, 2006 from the Iraqi city of Ramadi and has since been held without charge. On November 20, 2007, the US military announced that they would soon be bringing criminal charges against Hussein, and would be turning the case over to Iraqi judges. On April 9, 2008 an Iraqi judicial panel ordered his release, ruling (according to the AP) that he was covered by an Iraqi amnesty law. On April 14, 2008 the US military announced it would release Hussein from custody by April 16, 2008, saying only that "he no longer presents an imperative threat to security". AP Wire reports, "Military: AP photographer to be released Wednesday," Monday, April 14, 2008, found at USA Story of April 14, 2008. Accessed April 16, 2008. Also followed up at Bacon, Jason, "Nationline: Hussein: being freed after 2 year", Wednesday, April 16, 2008, p. 3A. Both stories have the same 2005 photo of Hussein by Jim MacMillan. Background Hussein was a shopkeeper who sold cell phones and computers in Fallujah, when he was hired by the AP as a general helper because of his local knowledge, in what is described as a typical path for locally hired staff in the middle of a conflict. According to Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography, in 2004, as the situation in Fallujah worsened, Hussein was given training in photography and camera equipment and hired in September 2004 as a freelancer, paid on a per-picture basis. During Operation Phantom Fury, Hussein's family left, but he stayed behind, "able to photograph not only the results of the attacks on Fallujah, but also able to photograph members of the insurgency on occasion," according to Lyon. After fleeing, he arrived in Baghdad, sans camera, (which the AP replaced) and then went Ramadi since early 2005. Imprisonment Allegations According to the U.S. Military (none of whose allegations have been upheld in any court), Hussein was arrested in April 2006, when bomb parts and insurgent propaganda were allegedly found in his house in Ramadi after the U.S. military asked to use it as an observation post during an operation. The military claimed that Hussein was found with two insurgents, including Hamid Hamad Motib, an alleged leader of al-Qaida terrorists in Iraq. According to a May 7, 2006 e-mail from U.S. Army Major General Jack Gardner, "He has close relationships with persons known to be responsible for kidnappings, smuggling, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and other attacks on coalition forces." Gardner alleged, "The information available establishes that he has relationships with insurgents and is afforded access to insurgent activities outside the normal scope afforded to journalists conducting legitimate activities." Despite these claims, the U.S. military released Hussein on April 14, 2008, saying that they no longer considered him an "imperative threat." According to his Iraqi lawyer, Badie Arief Izzat, Hussein is innocent, and believes he is being targeted by the U.S. military due to the politically sensitive nature of photographs he has taken. Associated Press response Tom Curley, AP president and chief executive claimed "Bilal Hussein has been held in violation of Iraqi law and in disregard to the Geneva Conventions. He must be charged under the Iraqi system or released immediately." The AP has contacted military leaders in Iraq and The Pentagon, and later the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, to try to get more information about the allegations and to have the case transferred to the Iraqi criminal justice system. According to Curley, the Associated Press had been working quietly until now, but since the US military showed no sign of changing their stance, they considered it best to make the imprisonment public. After hearing of the charges, Curley said "We have grave concerns that his rights under the law continue to be ignored and even abused...The steps the U.S. military is now taking continue to deny Bilal his right to due process...represents a miscarriage of the very justice and rule of law that the United States is claiming to help Iraq achieve...At this point, we believe the correct recourse is the immediate release of Bilal.” AP attorney Dave Tomlin has commented that “This is not due process, not anything like due process."US seeks charges against AP photographer in Iraq Kathleen Carroll, AP's executive editor, argued that simply because Hussein was found with insurgents, he isn't necessarily one of them. "Journalists have always had relationships with people that others might find unsavory," she said. "We're not in this to choose sides, we're to report what's going on from all sides." Other AP executives said that their review of Hussein's work did not find anything to indicate inappropriate contact with insurgents, and any evidence against him should be brought to the Iraqi criminal justice system. Out of the 420 of Hussein's photographs that the AP reviewed, Lyon said that only 37 photos show insurgents or people who could be insurgents; "The vast majority of the 420 images show the aftermath or the results of the conflict - blown up houses, wounded people, dead people, street scenes." AP executives also claim the military has not provided any concrete evidence to back up the vague allegations they have raised about him. AP International Editor John Daniszewski said that the AP was told that Hussein was involved with the kidnapping of two Arab journalists in Ramadi, but the AP tracked down the journalists, who said that Hussein in fact had helped them after they were released by their captors without money or a vehicle. The two journalists said that they had never been contacted by multinational forces for their account. Scott Horton, a lawyer in New York hired by the AP to work on Hussein's case, said that the military has also provided contradictory accounts of whether Hussein himself was targeted or simply caught up in a broader sweep. When Hussein was freed, the AP denied he had any "improper contacts" and said "he was just doing his job." Other responses The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it has documented seven cases in 2005, like Hussein, of Iraqi journalists detained by US forces without charge since the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Hussein has been also a target for conservative critics on the Internet, who raised questions about his images months before he was detained. One blogger, Michelle Malkin, wrote about him on the day of his arrest, citing an anonymous military source in Iraq. Ending of legal proceedings On April 7, 2008 an Iraqi court found that Bilal Hussein's case fell under an existing amnesty regulation and directed the prosecutor to "cease legal proceedings" and directed his "immediate" release unless other charges were pending. A Pentagon spokesman said that he would be released would be made by "officials" in Iraq, "based upon their assessment as to whether he remains a threat." On April 14, 2008 the US military announced that they no longer considered Hussein an "imperative threat." He was released on April 16, 2008 Reid, Robert, "AP photographer freed by US military after 2 years," Associated Press, found at Yahoo news. Accessed April 16, 2008. References External links *"AP seeks action on detained photographer." Becky Bohrer, Associated Press, October 27, 2006, accessed via Yahoo News on October 30, 2006. (Link dead as of 05:48, 15 January 2007 (UTC)) *"Pentagon defends its detention of Associated Press photographer." The Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, September 18, 2006, accessed on October 30, 2006. *"Pentagon rebuffs AP inquiry on detained photographer. The Associated Press, First Amendment Center, October 17, 2006, accessed on October 30, 2006. *of AP Photographer Bilal Hussein" Associated Press Web site November 20, 2007, accessed on November 20, 2007. *"US Continues Holding AP Photographer" Associated Press Web site April 11, 2008, accessed on April 11, 2008. Category:Photojournalists Category:Living people Category:Arab journalists Category:Iraqi journalists Category:Journalists held in extrajudicial detention in the War on Terror Category:Iraqi extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Category:People imprisoned on charges of terrorism Category:Pulitzer Prize winners Category:Associated Press reporters